Detecting breast cancer while having plastic surgery

New research suggests that breast reduction patients may be more susceptible to breast cancer due to abnormal pathologies. The researchers also found that it was more cost effective to screen breast reduction patients of all ages, not just those over 40, the age when routine screening mammography is recommended.

But in a cost-conscious health system like that in the United States, it is not easy for a plastic surgeons to have the tissues tested for abnormalities without going through the nightmare of dealing with an insurance company that is not interested in paying for the test.

So if you are having breast reduction surgery, you might want to have the tissue examined for potential problems with cancer. It costs approximately $380 and if your insurance company is mean enough to deny it to you, it is not a bad idea to pay for it yourself.

Breast cancer is 90 percent curable when discovered early. An estimated 211,240 new invasive cases of breast cancer are expected to occur in 2005 among women in the United States, according to the ACS. This year, more than 40,000 women are expected to die from the disease.